Spatial Information in Hydrology and Water Management

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Spatial Information in Hydrology and Water
Management

• Josef Fürst

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Learning objectives

• In this section you will learn
• Overview of commonalities in GIS technology and
  hydrology to motivate for GIS use in hydrology
  and water management.
• Basic understanding of modelling with spatial
  information
• Overview of properties of spatial information in
  hydrology and water management

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Outline

• Introduction
• Motivation
• Data and information
• Problems
• Summary

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Introduction

• Establish a relationship between problems in
  water resources and the capabilities of GIS by
  comparison of terms and schematic figures
• Discrimination between Data and Information
• Characterisation of hydrological information

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Motivation

• Concordance between tasks in hydrology and water
  management and functionality of GIS technology

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Motivation

• Concordance between tasks in hydrology and water
  management and functionality of GIS technology

Schematic illustration of the hydrologic cycle
The world in GIS (ESRI,
1998)
In a text book of hydrology
(Bras, 1990)
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Motivation

• Concordance between tasks in hydrology and water
  management and functionality of GIS technology

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Data and information

• Data

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Data and information

• Data Knowledge

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Data and information

• Data Knowledge Information

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Data and information

• Data
• ???
• ? part of ASCII Grid File

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Data and information

• Header Information
• Technical hints on format, resolution,
  georeference
• ??? What is it actually???

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Data and Information

• Metadata

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Data and Information

• GIS map display

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Data and Information

• Cartography

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Data and information

• Data Knowledge Information
• E.g. a sequence of coordinates describes a
  polyline ( data). Knowing that this polyline
  represents a reach of a river, creates knowledge
  of it.
• The model concept determines data requirements
• e.g the unit hydrograph contains information
  about the catchments reaction to rainfall, which
  depends on shape, size, height, vegetation,
  geology, slopes, etc., without having to know
  these factor zu develop the UH ? it is amodel of
  the catchment and has a spatial reference
• Models with distributed parameters use a
  spatially distributed characterisation of
  catchment properties

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Data and information
Properties of spatial information in hydrology
and water resources
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Data and information
Properties of spatial information in hydrology
and water resources
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Problems

• Water resources management
• Goal-oriented order of human impacts on surface
  and subsurface water. Compensation of conflicts
  between natural water supply and anthropogenic
  demands
• Uses and functions
• Domestic and industrial water supply, cooling
  water, irrigation, flood protection, hydro power,
  navigation, water quality, including sewage
  treatment and low flow regulation, recreation,
  fishing, drainage, erosion, sedimentation
• Protection and enhancement
• Natural water bodies, archeological, historical,
  biological and geological resources, eco-systems,
  quality of water, land and air.
• GIS supports inter-disciplinarity

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Summary

• Many developments in GIS technology originate
  from environmental and natural sciences ? use of
  GIS in hydrology and water management natural
• Hydrologic models are based on information about
  the area, for which hydrologic processes are to
  be described. The model concept determines, in
  which form the area characteristics are to be
  made available
• important hydrologic information Time series,
  drainage network, land use, elevation model,
  hydrogeology.
• Spatial hydrologic information is basis for water
  management planning, both for use and protection
  of water resources and the environment